Drop off a comment: All 13 Southwest Minneapolis Recreation Centers as well as MPRB Headquarters and Parade Ice Arena have a printed packet of concept designs, along with comment cards and drop-off boxes.

Attend a workshop: each workshop has the same format and park design concepts and includes kids’ activities and refreshments.

live music • food trucks • carnival games for kids* • face painting and henna tattoos* • bounce houses and giant slide* • NEW games for adults including Kan Jam • great info booths with games and prizes

Bring a water bottle to fill up at our water station donated by

Thank you to our additional sponsors

Burglary Alert

There have been 5 reported burglaries since July 11 in a 2-3 block area in the Tangletown neighborhood. The burglaries occurred overnight between the hours of 10pm and 6am while the homeowners were asleep. In three incidents the burglar was unable to make entry into the home because the windows and doors were locked. Entry was made in the other burglaries through an unlocked window and in one case, pry marks were found on the side door.

If you have any information that could lead to a suspect on these burglaries, please contact our property crimes investigator Sgt. Warnberg at (612) 673-5599.

Home Security Prevention Tips

Lock your home, apartment, and garage doors and windows at all times, even if you are in the home or yard.

Do not leave valuables in plain sight. This includes laptops, purses, wallets, keys, and anything else that may contain personal information. Remember: Treat your garage door opener as a key to your property.

Record the make, model, and serial numbers on your valuables and keep in a safe place. This information can greatly assist in recovery of items. Photographs may also be of assistance. NOTE: You can register you bicycle for free with the City. This can help recover your bike if it is ever stolen.

Secure windows and doors in homes and garages.

Use deadbolt locks with at least a 1” throw on all exterior doors. Use 6” strike plates and 3” case-hardened screws that enter the studs behind the doorframe.

Consider installing security film on windows near or on doors to prevent access to door locks via breaking a window.

Consider using timers on lights, radios and/or a TV when you are away from home.

If you have a security system, use it even while at home. Dogs can be a deterrent as well.

Know who is in your home; service providers and contractors should do background checks on their employees.

How to report a burglary

Call 911 to report a burglary, whether or not you witness the burglary in progress. Note missing items, suspect description, tools, objects, or DNA evidence left at scene, possible time and date of occurrence, video surveillance, etc. See http://www.minneapolismn.gov/police/crimeprevention/index.htm for additional tips and resources.

Call 911 on all suspicious activity including suspicious persons and vehicles loitering near homes and in alleyways, or unfamiliar noises such as breaking glass.

National Night OutTuesday, August 2

You can request your block closure for free until July 19! After that, it costs $100! So act now!

Minneapolis has already had 1,000 parties registered! We continue to be one of the most engaged communities in the nation and hope you will help us all continue this trend. NNO is a great way to meet your neighbors and improve area safety.

This year we will be putting blocks with new event registrations, or where we haven’t had a registraiton in a long time, at the top of our list for team visits. These are investigators, lieutenants, commanders, and our top brass who visit many events throughout the night. We should have as many as 80 teams rolling around on August 2nd! As always our Crime Prevention Specialist and other officers from the precinct will be “party-hopping” too!

Also for many years we’ve included Mall of America Nickelodeon Mystery Tickets which are always a hit with kids at NNO block parties, and this year is no different. Register your party today!

Early voting has started for the Aug. 9 Primary Election. Although Minnesota voters already had a chance to participate in selecting each party’s presidential candidates in the caucuses held by the parties in March, there are other races on the primary ballot. Every seat in the state legislature is up for reelection this year, and several of those seats will be on primary ballots in order to decide which candidate will be moving forward for each major political party in the November General Election. Check out What’s on the ballot for more information about what contests are on the primary ballot, and to get a copy of your sample ballot.

In-person early voting

Voters can come downtown to cast an absentee ballot for the primary in-person. In-person voting is at the newly opened Early Vote Center located at 217 S. Third St, one block from City Hall. Early voting can be done Monday – Friday, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., through Monday, Aug. 8. The Early Vote Center will also be open the final two Saturdays before the primary, on July 30 and Aug. 6, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Early in-person voting is convenient. It can be especially helpful for voters who need special accommodations, such as language support, by providing the extra time, attention and onsite resources more readily afforded at the Early Vote Center than across all polling places on Election Day.

Vote by mail

Voters who choose to vote early by mail just need to submit an absentee ballot application to have a ballot sent to them along with a postage paid envelope to return that ballot. This can be done by completing the application online or by completing a paper application and submitting by mail, email, fax, or in person to the Elections Office. Get downloadable forms available in 11 languages and full instructions for returning the application and mail ballots on the absentee voting section of vote.minneapolismn.gov.

More election judges needed

Several hundred more election judges are needed to serve in the City’s 132 polling places on Election Day, for the Aug. 9 Primary and the Nov. 8 General Election. Judges can work in the polls on either or both dates to help voters cast their ballots, and run polling place operations. Election judges are paid for their service, at $13.30 per hour beginning Aug. 1, and also receive pay for the required training they will complete prior to Election Day.

You can register online or in person at the Summer Festival (or at the park building). Youth sports including football and soccer are just some of the popular offerings through our parks.

Through August, adults can also take advantage of a new Zumba class on Wednesday nights!

Home Energy Squad Visits

Interested in saving money on your home or rental property? A Home Energy Squad visit is a great way to have a trusted expert come to your home and install free energy efficient materials, safety check your heating and water system and evaluate energy savings opportunities. This typically costs $70 and over 9,000 Minneapolis households have participated. For a limited time, the City of Minneapolis is offering FREE visits for income qualified residents along with 0% financing for insulation and/or air sealing upgrades. To learn more call 612 335 5874 or visit mncee.org/hes-mpls.

Minnehaha Creek Cleanup: July 24

Registration is now open for the 2016 Minnehaha Creek Cleanup on Sunday, July 24! RSVP here.

As the event marks its 10th anniversary, volunteers now have three cleanup locations to choose from – Minnetonka, St. Louis Park and Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis. The expansion to Minnetonka provides opportunities to clean the creek all the way from the creek’s headwaters near the Gray’s Bay Dam to Minnehaha Falls – 22 miles downstream. This year’s goal is to collect 4 tons of trash. Learn more at www.minnehahacreek.org/Cleanup

Please submit agenda items and requests for childcare at least 3 days in advance.

Scam Alert

With income tax filing season in full swing, the Minnesota Department of Revenue is warning taxpayers of a recent over-the-phone phishing scam. Taxpayers should beware of phone calls from a scammer claiming to be from the department who demands immediate payment of tax debts.

Phishing (as in “fishing for information” and “hooking” victims) is a scam to trick taxpayers into revealing personal and financial information which can be used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and swindle them out of money.

When contacting you the department will not:

Demand immediate payment without first mailing a letter.

Demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount you owe.

Require that you pay your taxes a certain way. For instance, require that you pay with a prepaid debit card.

Threaten to call the police or other law enforcement agencies to arrest you for not paying.

Use caution and NEVER provide personal information unless you are absolutely sure the situation is legitimate.

More information about these types of scams can be found on the IRS website.

Learn more about frauds and tax scams and how to report suspicious calls or messages you may have received by visiting our website.

Clean Water Landscaping Grants

In the middle of winter we’re thinking spring at MCWD. To better serve you, our cost share grant program will now accept applications for clean water landscaping projects at designated times throughout the year.

The spring deadline for non-homeowner grant applications is coming up on March 18. Homeowner applications are due June 17. Another round of applications for non-homeowner projects will be accepted in the fall. The grants are available to any person or organization within MCWD. Learn more and apply here.

Taxpayers take note: If you made energy efficiency improvements to your home in 2015, or if you are planning upgrades in 2016, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $500.

The Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit originally expired at the end of 2014. But Congress recently renewed the credit, making it retroactive to January 1, 2015, and extending it to December 31, 2016. Learn more!

Welcome

Betsen updated everyone on the annual meeting shift to May, recent ANA events (personal safety workshop, meeting on crime, Twitter and Facebook activity, involvement with Fair Skies, having the Chief of Police at a meeting, etc.)

MN Honey Company – Kelley Flanders

Kelley and his wife own the MN Honey Company store at 50th & Xerxes. They support over 30 different local beekeepers (ranging from age 10-80). With the recent significant loss of hives, many businesses have struggled or closed, so they are glad to be supporting this new, growing industry. The bee hive collapses are a worldwide problem, but Minnesota is proving to be a leader in finding solutions (both through hobbyists and professionals, as well as significant research through the University). Our region represents a significant percentage of honey production. The bee loss issues is complicated, and educating ourselves as consumers is a great start in helping the bee population return.

City Council Update by Linea Palmisano

Minneapolis was just announced today as the host for the 2018 Super Bowl. The LRT station at Target Field just opened last weekend, and trains to Union Depot in St. Paul will begin June 14. Pedestrian safety continues to be of concern (especially in the Calhoun neighborhood), and they are looking at solutions/improvements for Xerxes Ave. The city has begun looking into become self-insured, which could provide huge city-wide cost savings. Regarding composting and recycling, juice and other aseptic box packaging is now recyclable. Another $1M was just appropriated for road repairs (report issues through 3-1-1). Although the City Council is looking as banning Styrofoam, her feeling is that most business are already phasing it out, and that it wouldn’t be enforceable, and would rather see the city look at ways to encourage wider composting programs. Some concerns were raised over parking on Penn (especially with local construction and during rush hour) and questions were asked about any possible parking concerns near Lola. No specific concerns have been brought to her attention, but know that traffic enforcement would help in both areas (again, you can call 3-1-1 with specific concerns).

Jim provided a very brief history of this project and the gathering of input (feedback doors, neighborhood festivals, surveys, etc.). The Park Board has set aside $6-7M for path development along the Creek. The neighborhoods requested they hold off any development until after some other projects are completed, and after this feedback could be gathered, so the path development won’t take place until 2018-19. Overall, the feedback was to keep paths as natural as possible (not cement) and to increase access to the Creek. Neighborhood involvement is done for now, and the Park Board with be creating the final recommendations for development. These plans will then be made available for public response some time in 2016.

Bee Speaker & Flower Recommendations – Rene Lynch

Rene agreed that the issue of bee hive loss is complicated, but wanted to show us ways we could support our native pollinators, particularly two species of bees: Blue Orchard Mason and Leaf Cutter bees. These pollinators, unlike honeybees, are non-aggressive, since they are not protecting a queen. They are solitary dwellers, and life in holes in trees. You can provide a bee house, which has tubes to encourage a bee habitat in your own yard. Blue Orchard Mason bees hibernate over the winter in cocoons. When they emerge one Blue Orchard Mason bee can pollinate at the level it would take 600 honeybees. However, they can’t fly very far (and are often being harvested in one part of the country and shared with other areas during pollination seasons). Blue Orchard Mason bees are active in the spring, while Leaf Cutter bees are fall pollinators. Leaf Cutter bees also will live in the tube, but instead of a cocoon, the use a piece of a leaf to create a hibernation capsule. You can order bees online to help establish a population. There are also many native plants that encourage and help these pollinators: hollyhock, globe thistle, garden phlox, echinacea, ligularia, hyssop, lobelia, dumosus, joe pye weed and golden rod, for example.

Board Elections

Ballots distributed. Slate of candidates approved:

New Business

The Home Loan Program is in the development stage. We should have the details about these low interest home improvement loans soon.

Armatage Summer Festival is Monday, August 11. Watch for more details in the coming months and consider volunteering a 1/2 hr of your time!

The next Armatage Neighborhood Association Neighborhood Meeting is Tuesday, March 18th at 6:30 p.m. in the Armatage Park Building (57th and Russell Ave. )

The Minneapolis neighborhoods of Fulton, Lynnhurst and Armatage are working together with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board to explore possibilities for improving the Minnehaha Creek Corridor between Lynnhurst Community Center and Zenith Avenue. The Park Board has allocated funds in 2018-19 for the full stretch of the Minnehaha Creek corridor. Depending on rehabilitation needs of existing features in combination with community interests, some of the funding could be used to improve the landscape and access in this part of the corridor. Your neighborhood associations would like to prioritize the possible improvements based on your feedback.

The suggestions on this survey were gathered from neighborhood residents over the last year by a variety of methods. Every neighborhood resident or business owner can fill out a survey, but please only one per person.

We are hoping that you will take a moment to give us your feedback. This is a great opportunity to have your voice heard and have impact on funding decisions. We thank you for your time in protecting and improving this important community asset. Here is the link to the survey: